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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Why no determiner

Thanks for reading my question, my question is why the following sentence does not have a determiner?

Going to university is important.

Why we do not say "going to a/an unversity is important"? Why the determiner is ignored?

I think we must use a determiner if the noun is countable, is that correct? For example, we should say "An apple is good for you", or "Apples are good for you", but we would not say "Apple is good for you"?

Can anybody pls answer my question, Cheers.
  

Top answer

Anonymous Going to university is important. We say: She went to school today. ) The determiner distinguishes a physical place from a general place of learning.

— AlpheccaStars

  • Anonymous Going to university is important.
  • We say: She went to school today.
  • ) The determiner distinguishes a physical place from a general place of learning.
  • It sounds more typical of British English, though.
  • Brits say: They took the injured to hospital.
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9 Answers
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AnonymousGoing to university is important.
We say: She went to school today. (Not: She went to the school today.)

The determiner distinguishes a physical place from a general place of learning.

It sounds more typical of British English, though.

Brits say: They took the injured to hospital.
In American English, we use the determi
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I agree with A.Stars.

to university and to hospital are British turns of phrase, patterned after to school, to church, to work, etc. Whether to use to or to the depends on what is customary for the region.

It is common to omit the determiner in several fixed phrases like this in both BrE and AmE.

CJ
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AlpheccaStarsIt sounds more typical of British English, though.
Do you mean, then, that "Going to university is important" is not typical AmE? What would you say instead?
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My apologies for butting in.

We always say to a university or to the university and to the hospital.

But we do have to college, which I think is the equivalent of your to university.

CJ
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CJ is right.
It's just one of those set phrases that is different between the dialects.

It's important to go to college.
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Thanks very much guys. But, I am still a bit confused, sorry, cos English is not my first language. So, in American English, would you say "She went to the school today" or "She went to school today"?

Also, does it mean that in American English, you would say "going to a university", or "going to the university is important" instead of "going to university is important"?
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In American English, we say:
She went to school today. (She is a student and went as part of her normal daily activities.)
I went to the school today to vote. (When we have an election, the place I vote is in the local school building. I am not a student.)
I think it is the same in British English.

b) American English:
It is important to go to college. (It is important to
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AlpheccaStarsIn American English, we say:
She went to school today. (She is a student and went as part of her normal daily activities.)
I went to the school today to vote. (When we have an election, the place I vote is in the local school building. I am not a student.)
I think it is the same in British English.
Yes, it's the same.
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